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Nga Tsin Wai Tsuen

village in Hong Kong

Architectural plans, a scale model, maps and brass measuring instruments
Places and architectureInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionMay 4, 2026
Entity authorityQ857137 ↗
Source-derived summary

Nga Tsin Wai Tsuen, also known as Hing Yau Yu Tsuen, was a walled village in Wong Tai Sin, Kowloon, Hong Kong with a history spanning more than 600 years.

It was the last walled village in the urban core of Hong Kong before its resumption for redevelopment by the Urban Renewal Authority (URA), a government agency, in 2016.

History

According to a legend, members of the Ng, Chan and Lee clans followed the fugitive Song Emperor and settled in Kowloon in around 1278. The village was probably established by the Ng, Chan and Lee clans in the mid 14th century. They built a Tin Hau temple around 1352 and the fortified village around 1724.

Nga Tsin Wai was the head village of the "Kowloon League of Seven", an inter-village union formed to guard against attacks from the pirates and bandits. Other villages of the League included the nearby Sha Po, Ta Kwu Leng, Shek Kwu Lung, Kak Hang, Tai Hom, Nga Tsin Long, Ma Tau Chung and Ma Tau Wai. The Tin Hau Temple of Nga Tsin Wai Tsuen was the place of worship for the residents of the villages of the League.

Features

The village occupied an area of approximately 0.4 hectares. There are about 100 village houses separated by three narrow streets and six side lanes in a rectangular layout.

Editorial summary

The public source identifies “Nga Tsin Wai Tsuen” as village in Hong Kong. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Tsin, Tsuen and village.

Editorial reviewMost useful as a place-based finding aid connecting the present description to earlier jurisdictions, maps and built evidence. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—2016, 1278, 1352, 1724—that can be checked directly. The selected authority fields contribute no independent date. Its value is orientation rather than verdict, with Tsin, Tsuen and village providing the first useful test.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

A short description can identify a subject without explaining its stakes. For “Nga Tsin Wai Tsuen”, the useful work is to connect “village in Hong Kong” to the records capable of establishing context and consequence.

Evidence profile

Place names and jurisdictional language are key evidence: both can reveal earlier catalogue descriptions and overlooked record series. The source revision retrieved here is dated May 4, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q857137. Authority coordinates are 22.335, 114.193. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 2016, 1278, 1352 and 1724.

Critical limits

Modern boundaries and familiar names can conceal earlier jurisdictions or structures that do not align with the present site. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Treat names, boundaries and functions as historically changeable. Maps, plans, inventories and administrative records can clarify what the place meant at different dates.

Best used for
  • Historic place names
  • Jurisdictional context
  • Routes into maps and plans
Verify next

Contemporary maps, plans, listed-building records, estate papers and the responsible local or national archive.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “Nga Tsin Wai Tsuen”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow Nga Tsin Wai Tsuen primary sources, Nga Tsin Wai Tsuen archive and Tsin research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Nga Tsin Wai Tsuen”?
  2. Which authority defined the place, boundary or structure at the relevant date?
  3. Which earlier names or jurisdictions may reveal additional records?
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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from “Nga Tsin Wai Tsuen” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.